BRITTANY, France — A Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner en route to Costa Rica declared an in-flight emergency on Thursday afternoon, turning back toward mainland Europe and entering a holding pattern over western France.
Flight LH518 departed Frankfurt Airport (FRA) at 14:00 CET bound for Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in San José, Costa Rica.
Approximately 90 minutes into the transatlantic journey, while cruising at an altitude of 34,000 feet as it began crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the aircraft abruptly reversed course and headed back into French airspace.
Flight tracking data indicates that the flight crew squawked 7700 (the international transponder code signaling a general emergency) before initiating a holding pattern, circling over the Brittany region in northwestern France. Entering a holding pattern is standard procedure for long-haul aircraft preparing for an unscheduled landing, typically done to burn or dump fuel in order to reduce the aircraft’s weight to safe landing limits.
The aircraft involved in the incident is a one-year-old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, bearing the registration D-ABPI.
The exact nature of the emergency remains unclear, and it has not yet been confirmed which airport the flight will divert to. Lufthansa has not yet issued an official statement regarding the situation or the status of the passengers and crew on board.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
